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A California federal district court judge has just ruled against the NCAA in the O'Bannon case. The bottom-line is that the judge held that the NCAA's prohibtion against paying collegiate athletes violated antitrust laws. This doesn't mean that schools must pay players; rather, it means that the NCAA can not stop schools from doing so. That said, the devil will be in the details, as the judge also held that the NCAA could cap such payments (although where the limits, if any, are is unclear). On the heels of the NCAA giving the big 5 conferences more autonomy, I suspect that those conferences will fairly quickly move ahead with additional payments to players, creating a divide with schools that have fewer financial resources (keeping in mind, of course, that the NCAA will likely appeal). I also think that this indirectly helps players who are arguing for employee status, whether under the NLRA or other statutes.

It's going to be an interesting time in collegiate athletics over the next few years.